Friday, February 27, 2015

There were some good and great dresses at the Oscars 2015. Too bad about Lupita Nyong'o's pearl dress that got stolen, that was nice.

But after perusing all the red carpet looks, I was actually most impressed by the dress worn by Amy Adams to the Vanity Fair Oscar party. She didn't attend the Oscar ceremonies, but she still had the best look.

Well, actually I have. But not with ice, with pumice. The frothy volcanic rock that floats. After the pretty big eruption of Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcano in Chile, a lot of the ash fell into some picturesque lakes (especially Nahuel Huapi lake), making them much less picturesque. Making them pretty mucky, in fact. But unique that way.

Since I'm on this subject, I checked to see if the lakes are recovering. Couldn't find much. But I did find one tourist guide that recommended taking boat tours of the lakes, so I would guess that they have gotten somewhat better since the 2011 eruption.

"In a stark turnaround, the Republican called for higher taxes on
cigarettes and liquor as part of his annual budget while proposing to
make future tax cuts contingent on revenue projections."

Ouch. ("The latest budget plan includes a major hike in taxes on cigarettes from
79 cents per pack to $2.29 per pack and a jump in a tax on liquor from 8
percent to 12 percent.")

Oh. Sin taxes. Well, raise them high enough and people won't smoke and won't drink. Then where are you?

“My budget proposal recognizes that the current budget trajectory is
unsustainable and that difficult solutions are required by state law as
well as by fiscal prudence,” Brownback said in releasing his two-year budget."

OUCH.

"Kansas revenue analysts reported in November that the state would
require $278 million in cuts by this June to balance the budget. They
said a state reserve fund of about $379 million would be emptied, and
lawmakers should cut an additional $435 million to avoid a deficit this
year."

I've written about the Kansas disaster-in-progress that is being formulated and fomented by former Senator, now Governor, Sam Brownback. I"ve got a shortie coming up on that.. But I found this article of interest, which discusses how Democrat/liberal ideas are being implemented in Minnesota by self-effacing Governor Mark Dayton:

I recommend reading the entire thing. But here are two excerpted sections that I found of particular noteworthiness:

"Over the past several years, Minnesota has become a testing ground
for a litany of policies Democrats hope to enact nationally: legalizing
same-sex marriage, making it easier to vote, boosting primary education
spending, instituting all-day kindergarten, expanding unionization,
freezing college tuition, increasing the minimum wage, and passing new
laws requiring equal pay for women. To pay for it all, Dayton pushed a
sharp increase on taxes for the top 2 percent—one of the largest hikes
in state history. Republicans went berserk, warning that businesses
would flee the state and take jobs with them.

The disaster Dayton's GOP rivals predicted never happened. Two years
after the tax hike, Minnesota's economy is booming. The state added
172,000 jobs during Dayton's first four years in office. Its 3.6 percent
unemployment rate is among the lowest in the country (Wisconsin's is
5.2 percent), and the Twin Cities have the lowest unemployment rate of any major metropolitan area."

Yeah, that's good. But wait, there's more:

"Priority No. 1 was raising taxes on the rich. The final tax plan—which
bumped up income taxes 2 percent for couples earning $250,000 per
year—made Minnesota the fifth-highest tax state in the nation. But the
hike paid for an arsenal of new programs. The same day Dayton signed the tax bill, he also approved a $429 million jobs bill.
"He was unswayed by the consultants in the Democratic Party who were
counseling Democrats to go to the middle to avoid the tax and spend
label that is put on Democrats," says Jacobs, the University of
Minnesota political scientist."

And yes, it's working. Now read about Sam Brownback -- and how Kansas isn't working.

This week's (late) Lighthouse of the Week is from the French island of Corsica, in the Mediterranean Sea.

I figured Corsica, like Sicily, would have a lot of lighthouses. I was correct. And real quick, I found one that was a standout. It is the "Madonetta" light that marks the entrance to the port of Bonifacio.

"1854. Active; focal plane 28 m (92 ft); red light, 2 s on, 2 s off.
12 m (39 ft) square cylindrical masonry tower with lantern and gallery,
rising from the center of a 1-story masonry keeper's house. Tower
and lantern painted red; keeper's house painted white. This lighthouse has a remarkable site atop a triangular
block of sandstone attached to the mainland by a narrow peninsula.
Located on the west side of the narrow entrance to the harbor of Bonifacio."

"The brightest spot continues to be too small to resolve with our
camera, but despite its size it is brighter than anything else on Ceres.
This is truly unexpected and still a mystery to us," said Andreas
Nathues, lead investigator for the framing camera team at the Max Planck
Institute for Solar System Research, Gottingen, Germany."

Thursday, February 19, 2015

For some reason, I woke up a couple of days ago with the name "Aberystwyth" rattling around in my brain. I finally had a chance to try and figure out why. It wasn't too hard for me to figure out that it was English or Scottish. (I was wrong - it was Welsh.)

The classic criterion that defines an El Niño event is for the Oceanic Nino Index (ONI) in the Niño 3,4 region to have a sea surface temperature anomaly of +0.5 C or higher for five consecutive overlapping three month periods.

Well, even though the conditions in the Pacific have been uncertain, incipient, and weak, the ONI is 3/5 of the way there.

Looking at the chart at the first link, the 1977-1978 El Niño peaked at +0.8, and only had six periods above 0.5 (0.5, 0.7, 0.8, 0.8, 0.7, 0.5). The previous year had a similar period. Both of these are called El Niño. So despite playing climatic hide-and-seek, we may just get over the El Niño finish line.

" "As we slowly approach the stage, our eyes transfixed on Ceres and her
planetary dance, we find she has beguiled us but left us none the
wiser," said Chris Russell, principal investigator of the Dawn mission,
based at UCLA. "We expected to be surprised; we did not expect to be
this puzzled." "

So... 'surprised' is used, and I could probably go with that. 'Puzzled' isn't one I called out (though it's a lot like 'unexplained'). I could probably take this as a fulfilled prediction right now, but there will be a lot more written about Ceres in the next few weeks. I'll be patient a little longer.

It's about the situation in Australia, but it also talks about the U.S. as well:

"Host cities and organizers will be forced to cancel, postpone or perhaps even move outdoor sporting events to alternate locations or shift them to different seasons of the year. This could be a big deal for the sports (entertainment) industry. Sport is embedded in Australian society – central to culture and economy. It is not different in American society with both professional and ‘amateur’ sports deeply rooted in American popular culture. The popularity of all kinds of sports is sky-high – including fan interest and support. At the same time, the impacts of climate change on sport are far-reaching. Extreme heat in particular can affect the health of athletes and spectators."

What about winter sports, you are thinking to yourself?

"Consider another example from the [Climate Institute's Sports and Climate Report] regarding winter sports: “Nine out of the 16 world cities that have hosted the Winter Olympics in the 20th century could not again guarantee proper snow conditions by the end of the 21st century.”

That's not good either.

And I doubt this is a solution that works for everybody and it really slows you down on the court, too:

"The findings showed that 333, or 6.3 percent, of the bridges were
structurally deficient. These bridges must be inspected every year
because critical load-bearing structures were in poor condition from
damage or deterioration, the group said.Structurally deficient bridges
were more likely to be in urban areas.

Another 1,085 bridges, or
20.5 percent, were functionally obsolete and no longer meet current
standards for bridge construction. Those bridges, for example, could
have narrow lanes or load-bearing standards below those for bridges
built today."

So what is our new Republican Governor Larry "Bulk" Hogan going to do about it? Why, his response is the Republican answer to EVERYTHING!

"Democratic leaders are fiercely resisting the governor’s bill, saying
it and other funding changes that Hogan is proposing would be a fatal
blow for the light-rail Purple Line in the Washington region and kill
most major road improvements across the state that are not underway.

“I
don’t know who he’s expecting to vote for this,” said House Speaker
Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel). “If this bill passes, it would leave
you barely enough money for filling potholes.”

(Especially if there are more of them!)

And remember that part I said about making somebody else pay for it?

"Hogan has proposed passing on a greater share of state transportation
dollars to counties and municipalities for local projects. He is also
proposing to pay for some previously planned environmental projects with
transportation funds. Those changes could reduce the amount of funding
available for state transportation projects by an additional
$1.5 billion during the six-year period, according to the document,
leaving little money for projects in the state transportation fund."

Yes, that's the way it would be.

Let's sum up.

"Ralph Bennett, president of Purple Line Now, a coalition of business, labor, environmental and civic groups that is pushing for the completion of the light-rail line, described Hogan’s proposal as “ridiculous.” "

Yes, it is. But that's what happens when a Republican governor gets elected. Kansas, here, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Texas, Louisiana. The ridiculous becomes the norm.

I was looking for uniqueness, and so I looked for Oregon's smallest lighthouse. That was easy; it was this one, the Cape Meares Lighthouse. Like most lighthouses in Oregon, it's spectacularly situated on the Pacific Coast.

1890. Inactive since 1963. 40 ft (12 m) octagonal tower, brick
sheathed in iron, attached to a workroom. Tower painted white, lantern
black. The original 1st order Fresnel
lens, vandalized after the lighthouse was decommissioned, was
partially restored and is still mounted in the tower (one of the
four bullseye prisms is missing). The keeper's house and other
light station buildings were all demolished around 1968 after severe
vandalism. The visitor center is
a reconstruction (1978) of the original workroom.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

An article in Scientific American discusses the problems that might accrue if the U.S. experiences significant gaps in satellite earth observation, and if doesn't make plans to deal with the REAL threat of climate change.

"The GAO report highlights the threat climate change poses to federal
property, and insurance and disaster relief programs. In fact, the
National Flood Insurance Program is so at risk of going underwater—last
year, the program was $23 billion in the red—that it warranted its own
chapter in this year’s report. The GAO also said the government is still
lagging in its efforts to be the provider of information to decision
makers, and coordinating actions to reduce climate risks nationally."

and

"In comparison, the satellite gap is
a more clear-cut, though still pressing, issue. While there has been
some improvement, including upgrades to weather models for integrating
satellite data, GAO still identified a gap of at least a year where the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) could be without
polar-orbiting satellite capabilities. That’s shorter than the 17- to
53-month gap first identified by GAO in 2013 but longer than the three
months NOAA has said it could last."

Well, maybe we need to start thinking harder about these things, and make better plans than we're currently making.

Greg Sargent in the WashPost explains about what might happen if the Republicans try to hang tough on shutting down the Department of Homeland Security just to try to score political points on the immigration debacle.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Surprise! This week's Lighthouse is actually a pair, painted bright orange and bright green, on twin piers (moles) in the harbor of Helsingør, Denmark. This is my first posting of a lighthouse from Denmark, and it probably won't be my last, as the small country has lots of coast and lots of lighthouses.

Two different cometary perspectives, one from Rosetta and one from the Earth's surface.

The first is of Comet Lovejoy, as it passes by a nice spiral galaxy (at left, in that tail).

The second is from Rosetta, showing bright jets from Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. In just a couple of days, on Valentine's Day, Rosetta will swoop in and come only 6 km from the comet's surface. Those will be some great pictures.

I never have been impressed with Lousiana governor Bobby Jindal, who has Presidential aspirations. I don't consider him a potential Most Dangerous Man in America, because I think he's unelectable at the national level. And after reading this, I'm more convinced. (The auditions for presidential candidate are starting out pretty poorly; Scott Walker showed how shallow he is recently, too.)

"Louisiana’s travails are particularly problematic because they have been caused in large part by Jindal’s tax cuts, which, along with declining oil revenue, blew such a hole in the state budget that even huge spending cuts haven’t made up the gap. In the last few days, articles in the New York Times and Politico have detailed Louisiana’s fiscal travails, including a possible 40 percent operating-budget cut at Louisiana State University and an increase in tuition at public universities of 90 percent during Jindal’s time in office. Jindal has already raided state reserve funds and resorted to the sort of budget-keeping gimmicks that he once criticized."

In case you hadn't heard this, women's tennis pro Caroline Wozniacki (who I picked to make the semi-final round in at least one Grand Slam tournament in my 2015 Undangerous Predictions and to win one in my 2015 Edgy Predictions) is showing off her pulchritudinous side in the 2015 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

This is a good thing. A very very good thing, because that's how she looks in swimwear. Very very good. The pictures show what we already knew, basically, which is that she's fit and strong. And hot.

The above link goes to a Daily Mail article that starts off with Caroline's pictures, but also has a lot of pictures of the other SI models, so don't click on that link if you find that sort of thing repugnant.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

I know her only as a picture, yetI want to know much more, and find what liesbehind her shaded eyes. Where has she metwith wonderment? What stimulates the criesof her delight? And when does she bestowher sensual perfection, giving oneenamored man a vivid, private showwhere two physiques and souls shall merge and stuntheir avid hungers with a multitudeof massive affirmations? I would bethat man, to probe her layers from the crudeand basic to refined, sublime, and freeexpressions celebrating life and lustand mutuality of naked trust.

Even if she used to be Cheryl Cole, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini is still a talented musician and singer. And she's about to release a new song, "Only Human". (Wait, wasn't there a song with that name recently over here? I get so confused.)

Now, if Cheryl was mine (in fact, she is now the wife of Mr. Fernandez-Versini), given the remarkableness of all the rest of her, I would no doubt be able to overlook the rose tattoo. In fact, that would be quite a view under the right circumstances. But still, I would take Cheryl in a moment, rose tattoo and all, so Mr. F-V had better understand his REMARKABLE good fortune, and adore every part of Cheryl, whether or not that part is decorated indecorously or not.

Natural History Museum of London's Wildlife Photographer of the Year features the best nature photography of the year. I don't know if this is all of them in Discover magazine, but this is a good collection of them.

Sunday, February 1, 2015

I missed last week, so here are two striking lighthouses with a winter theme, as that's the season we're in. The first is iconic - Split Rock on Lake Superior's North Shore, north of Duluth. The second is isolated Stannard Rock, also on Lake Superior, or rather in, as it is on a small reef that is usually overrun with waves. Stannard Rock is almost directly north of Marquette, Michigan, which is in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

NASA launched a new Earth observation satellite on Saturday, January . This one studies soil moisture (how wet the ground is) with a spinning circular antenna. The antenna hasn't deployed yet, so this mission could still end up being a disaster. Hope not. The video embedded here shows the amazing deployment sequence, starting about 1:00 in.

Over the weekend it was reported that international singing superstar Shakira, she of the incredible dance moves, amazing voice, and hips that don't lie, had her second child with Spanish soccer player Gerard Piqué. Another athlete with a WAG that he shouldn't ever let go.

The same Petra that was a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, got caught in the 2004 Indonesian tsunami (and lost her boyfriend in it), survived her broken bones (including a broken pelvis), came back, started a number of charities, had a couple of romances, including a near marriage, if I remember correctly, and all through it, continued to look fantastic.

Well, Ultimo must agree, and I have always admired Michelle Mone's taste in spokesmodels, especially because she picked Luisana Lopilato. After that it was Abbey Clancy, who is now pregnant enough to have to let someone else display the Ultimo undies. So Michelle picked Petra. Now, I did mention that Michelle Keegan might have been a great choice, but because of all that Petra represents, and also because of her killer bod, she's a great choice too.

Some pictures of Petra in her first Ultimo representation are here. I checked out the Ultimo Web site and found a lot more. They're nice.